Space probes such as the Mars rover curiosity have mass spectrometers to analyse rock samples and identify which elements they are composed of and analyses the gases in the atmosphere.The mass spectrometer identifies elements with software that matches the spectrum of samples with spectra from all the elements.
There are different types of mass spectrometer.These include time-of-flight mass spectrometer which separates the ions by ion velocity.Ions with the same charge also have the same kinetic energies, and the time of flight of the ion is directly proportional to the root of the ion’s m/z.
There are different types of mass spectrometer.These include time-of-flight mass spectrometer which separates the ions by ion velocity.Ions with the same charge also have the same kinetic energies, and the time of flight of the ion is directly proportional to the root of the ion’s m/z.